ADB to finance PCMC BRTS

The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) will take a loan of around Rs 350 crore from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to start a Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) service on six routes within its municipal limits. The loan will help meet 25 per cent of the project cost, the civic body said. Speaking to mediapersons, municipal commissioner Ashish Sharma said the PCMC has received a letter from the ADB expressing its willingness to provide the loan for the BRTS project.Sharma said, “The PCMC plans to start the BRTS service on six routes in the township at a total cost of around Rs 1,300 crore. The ADB will extend a loan to cover 25 per cent of the project cost, which comes up to Rs 350 - 400 crore.”Explaining the reason for taking the loan, the civic chief said, “Normally, bank loans have to be repaid in seven to eight years. But the ADB’s loans can be repaid in 15 years. Further, the PCMC has an AA+ credit rating, which means that we can get bank loans easily.” “We will be working out details of the loan amount and the terms and conditions in two weeks. The ADB has appointed a consultant to assess the social and environmental impact of the project, which is expected to be ready in three months. The loan agreement with the ADB will be signed after that,” Sharma further said.The municipal commissioner explained that the PCMC will seek 60 per cent of the project cost from the union government under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission scheme. The civic body will bear the remaining 15 per cent of the expenditure, Sharma stated.Sharma said the PCMC will appoint Urban Mass Transit Company Limited to prepare the operational plan for its BRTS project, as had also been done by the PMC.The first BRTS service began in the PCMC area on an experimental basis on Monday on the Nigdi-PMC headquarters bus terminus route.